Machine for grading and sorting according to weight



June 6,1933. M. REDLINGER MACHINE FUR GRADING AND SORTING ACCORDING TOWEIGHT Filed June 25. 1930 3 S eets-Sheet l INVENTOR Red I nger Michael.ATTOR, EY

MACHINE FOR GRADING AND SORTING ACCORDING TO WEIGHT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR M. REDLINGER Filed June 23. 1930 June 6,

June 6, 1933. M. REDLINGER MACHINE FUR GRADING AND SORTING ACCORDING TOWEIGHT Filed June 23.- 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR Patented June 6,1933 PATENT OFFICE MICHAEL nnnmivenn, on PQRTLANDQOREGON MACHINE FOBGRADING AND SOBTING ACCORDING TO WEIGHT Application filed June 23, 1930.Serial No. 463,293.

My invention relates to a machine for grading and sorting fruits andsimilar products by their relative weights, which is antomatic in itsaction and which is capable of being run at extreme y' Speeds thus ingadapted for quantity grading. Such machine comprises a conveyor ada tedto traverse a path longitudinally of t e machine and carries a series ofcups or carriers pivotally secured to such conveyor. Upon each carrieris a finger riding upon a grading rail extending generally longitudinalof such machine. Such rail diverges slightly from the path traversedbythe conveyor and the finger moves outwardlytowards its free extremity.The pivotal connection between such finger andthe carrier or cup iscontrolled by a spring or other yielding means and thus when the weightor mass of the articleto be graded acting thru such supporting fingerexceeds the spring tension, then such cup is permitted to swing intodi'sa charging position. Thus such finger forms a fulcrnmeddeverheldlongitudinally ex- L tended by a spring and when the-product of thelever arm acting under the mass of the article being graded, exceeds theresisting force exerted by the spring or other yielding member,then suchfingercollapses and permits thecarrier to move into dischargingposition. x v y A further object of my invention is to provide a graderof this character with a relatively short vertically descending rail atthe head end and a fixed lateral finger adapted to ride such rail, whichrail supports the weight of the carrier and the article to be gradedwhen the latter is being fed on to suchiearrier. Said rail graduallydescends to become out of engagement as such. carrier is moved along bythe carrier,

thereafter permitting the weight of the carrier and the article to begraded to be supported wholly by the laterally extending collapsiblefinger, which finger bears upon rating mechanism. I

A further ob e ct of my lnventlon is to provide mechanism of thischaracter adapted to be carried inits entirety by the pendent and Fig.tion taken therethru on the line -22f in thegrading rail and constitutesthe sepacarriers, such carriers being interchangeable with each otherand the grading mechanism being relatively fixed in place 011 saidcarriers. Another and more specific object of my invention is to providecarriers as above set forth with spring or other resilient elementsadapted .to exert a progressively lessened force resisting the collapseof the finger with relation to the carrier, functioning so that as suchfinger collapses progressively the discharge will be more abrupt. Inattaining this object the finger is arranged so as to be tipped slightlydownwardly, approximately five or ten de rees from the horizontal plane,so that such finger rides upon its point and the position of such-fingeraids the spring, as above described, in attainingsuch latter obeet. 1 iy i A further object of my invention is to provide guideor let-downrails for a grader ofthe characterinwhich the carriers pivot about alateral axis. with relation to the machine, which guide or let-downrails are relatively resilient and are pendent and fixed only attheirupper ends, so that in case any of such carriers in dischargedposition ride over a quantity of fruit in the grading stations and areforced upwardly against such let-down or guide rails, then,

in that event, the latterwillyield and swing upwardly toprevent bruisingor otherwise injuring the fruit 3 and such parts being pivoted at their.upper ends thus willbe moved back to correct position by the next basketor carrier discharging atthe station affected.

The above mentioned objects .and structural features of my. inventionare hereinaftervdescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan View of a grader embodying my invention;

2 is a fragmentary longitudinal see- Fig. 1; y

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse section taken on the line 3-3 in Fig.1; y

Fig. 4 is a perspective detail of one type of carrier with a portionofthe fabric floor shown as broken away to disclose the operatingmechanism of such carrier;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another type of carrier embodying myinvention, in which the finger is controlled by a coiled tension spring;and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of still another type of carrier actuatedby gravity weights.

My improved grader comprises a frame a over the top of which a conveyorZ) moves along a path longitudinally of such frame. It is understoodthat to attain capacity it is common to provide a number of thesegrading chains on a single frame, but inasmuch as each grading chain isa separate unit and are mere duplications of each other, but one gradingelement will be described.

Such conveyor is preferably in the form of an endless chain and mountedover two pairs of end sprockets cc', one element of which is driven. Theframe is divided into a number of lateral stations by partitions (Z andeach of such stations comprises a box or chute. To all of such stationsa common endless belt cl conveys the articles to be separated. When mymachine is used for grading fruit or articles which are easily injured,it is preferable thatthe floors of such stations be cushioned or thebelt be resilient and lie as close as it is practical to the plane ofthe conveyor, to shorten the drop when the fruit is diverted from suchconveyor to the stations.

As is shown in Fig. 3, a series ofhelical resilient members extendobliquely downwardly from the plane in which the carriers support thearticles to a point slightly above the lower end of the carriers whenpendent after having discharged said articles. One of said helicallet-down members is arranged at each of the stations and serves tolessen the abruptness with which said carriers fall from carrying todischarging positions.

Carried by such conveyors and pivotally mounted thereto are a number ofcarriers or baskets e mounted upon'laterally extending pins f, whichconstitute the pivotal connection for such carriers or baskets. Suchconveyor chains move along between spaced guides g, which fit tightlyagainst the exterior of such conveyors and direct such conveyor along alineal path. The laterally extending pins f carrying the baskets e areloosely mounted in such conveyor chains and are held. in place, becausethe chains constituting the conveyors are prevented from spreading apartby guides 9. To disengage said pins with the basket assemblies carriedthereby, it is necessary merely to lift that section of theconveyorabove the guides and spread such'chains apart. This constructionpermits new baskets and pins to be quickly and easily inserted in saidconveyor.

At the head end of such grader is some type of feeding mechanism /L,which arranges the articles to be graded separately upon the carriers orbaskets. At such head end a relatively short receiving rail 2' isarranged, and extending the entire length of the grader is a gradingrail j. The carriers or baskets e are provided with two spaced laterallyextending fingers, a fixed finger 7a which is adapted to engage and rideupon the receiving rail, and a pivotally mounted finger Z which isadapted to engage and ride along the grading rail j. The up peractivesurfaces, of such rails are vertically spaced from each other, asare the fingers and the active surface of the receiving rail descendsgradually in the direction of 1110- tion of the conveyor. At its initialpoint the receiving rail'is spaced a lesser distance than the spacing'ofthe fingers, so that the entire weight of the carriers or baskets issupported by such receiving rail. Such receiving rail is spaced agreater distance at its discharge end so'as to permit the weight of thebasket and the articles graded to be transferred to and held by thegrading rail.

The function of the receiving rail thus is to take the shock of thefruit or other articles being graded when they are originally dischargedfrom the feeder mechanism on to the gradingmechanism. The receiving railis of 'sufiicient length to permit the articles being graded to assume acondition of equilibrium so that the movement of the articles will notaffect the action of the grader. Y I

The grading rail, although it extends substantially in a planelongitudinal of the grader and parallel to the path of the grader,diverges slightly therefrom so that at the forward end of the grader thepivotal finger Z engages the rail adjacent the fulcrum of such fingerand at the discharge end of such grader the carrier is supported by thetip or free end of such finger. The finger is held laterally extended bysome such means as a spring or by a gravity weight or other yieldingdevices and such yielding devices are preferably proportioned so as tosustain the weight of the carrier at all points except when the carrieris supported by the extreme tip end of the pivotal finger. At this pointthe yieldable means is proportioned to permit the collapse of suchfinger and the movement of the basket to discharge position, so that noarticles, no matter how small, will be carried over the end of thegrader.

The degree of angularity between the 'ath 0f the conveyor and thegrading rail is adjusted by means of a set screw on preferably arrangedone at each end of the machine and threaded.

The carrier or basket shown in Fig. 4 is preferably provided with atwisted wire frame '0 having two forward loops 7), which areadapted tofit loosely about the transverse pin Therear edge of such basketcomprises arelatively wide band 'fastened tn the ends of such wire frameand tipped backwardly therefrom at a substantial angle. The floor ofsuchcarrier or basket isrpreferably made of fabric *1 such as heavy canvasand treatedwith some moisture resistant material, for example wax orparaffin. f The fixed finger-7c is riveted or otherwise secured to suchband 9 and carries an outstanding stop The finger 70 includes a strapelement which embraces the wire side member ofthe frame 0' and'is thuspivotally secured thereto, The pivotal finger Z is mounted about suchframe and overlies such stop,which is adapted to positionthe finger inlaterally extended position. A twisted wire torsion element sengagessuch finger and tends to hold the latter against the stop 70.Meansareprovided for adjusting the strength of such tortion member, suchmeans comprising a threaded screw 8, which tends to distort such element8 and toincrease its elfect. Suchelement s distorts in the main upon itssection 82, which terminates adjacent the forward end ofthe framemember. Thus as such finger leaves its position against the stop andcollapses upwardly and inwardly, the degree which such member distortsis lessened and thus the resistance to movement on the part of suchfingerwis proportionately decreased. The result is that such finger,which collapses and per'- mits the basket to swing downwardly, whenoverloaded, breaks quickly and the grading is relatively sharp; Tofurther increase this factor the pivotal finger 2', when engaging thestop 70, preferably tips downwardly or towards the fixed finger isapproximately five or ten degrees from parallelism and thus i when thefinger rides upon the grading rail j, it is supported only by the tip ofthe finger.

Inthe type of basket or carrier shown in Fig-5, the pivotal finger t isactuated by a coiled tension spring a, which engages a loop t on suchfinger and tendsto draw such finger downwardly against the stop is. Withthis type of spring element also the spring it exerts its greatest forcewhen the finger is extended laterally, as it is in this position thatthe loop 25" extends in a plane normal to the pull of the spring andexercises its greatest effective leverage upon said finger.

in Fig. 6 a third modification of carrier is shown, illustrating the useof gravity weights to for actuating such pivotal finger, instead of atension spring as shownyin the previous modification. In all otherrespects the modification shown in Fig. 6 is the same as that shown inFig. 5 and the weights exercise a progressively decreasing force in themanner, and for the same reason, as the spring in such previousmodification.

'1. A machine for grading articles of the character described by theirrelative weight, comprising a basket pivotally mounted for discharge,such basket being provided with a lengthwise of such rail, means formoving such basket along such rail following a lineal path relativelydivergent from the vertical plane of said railuntil the finger collapsesunder the weight of the article being graded acting thru the increasedleverage exerted by said finger relatively to its mount ing, therebypermitting such basket to swing intodischarging position and toreleasethe articlecarried. thereby at one ofsuch stations. i i i i 2. Amachinefor grading articles of the character described by their relativeweight, comprising a basket pivotally mounted for discharge, such basketbeing provided with a laterally projecting finger pivotally mounted atits base and yieldingly extended to collapse under a predeterminedforce, a continuous lineal guide rail, .upon which said finger rests tosupport said basket in a horizontal plane, a series of stations spaced.lengthwise of such rail, means for moving such basket along such railfollowing a lineal path relatively diver ent from the vertical plane ofsaid rail until such finger collapses under the weight of the articleacting thru the relatively increased leverage exertedby said finger uponits pivot, thereby permitting such basket to swing into dischargingpos1t10n and to release the article carried thereby at one of suchstationsl 3.In a weighing type grading machine of the characterdescribed, a conveyor following a path traversing a series of spacedstations, a series of carriers movably secured thereto and adapted tosupport and carry articles to be graced, a rail arranged generallylongitudinal of said path, yieldable means extending laterally from andsupportmg each of said carriers, riding upon and supported by such rail,said means being pivotally joined to said carrier upon an axis extendinggenerally parallel to said path, such rail diverging relatively to suchpath at an angle predetermined with respect to such. stations and to theyielding point of such means.

4. In a weighing type grading machine of the character described, aconveyor following a path traversing a series of spaced staable fingerextending laterally from and I supporting each of said carriers, ridingupon and supported by such rail one of said fingers being pivotallyjoined to said carrier upon an axis extending generally parallel to saidpath, such rail diverging relatively to such path at an anglepredetermined with respect to such stations and to the yielding point ofsuch fingers.

5. In a Weighing type grading machine of the character described, aconveyor following a path traversing a series of spaced stations, aseries of carriers movably secured thereto and adapted to support andcarry articles to be graded, a rail arranged longitudinal of said path,a yieldable spring con trolled element extending laterally from andsupporting each of said carriers riding upon and supported by such railsaid element being pivotally joined to said carrier upon an axisextending generally parallel to said path, such rail divergingrelatively to such path at an angle predetermined with respect to suchstations and to the yielding point of such spring controlled element.

6. In a Weighing type grading machine of the character described, aconveyor following a path traversing a series of spaced stations, aseries of carriers movably se-V cured thereto and adapted to support andcarry articles to be graded, a rail arranged generally longitudinal ofsaid path, yieldable means extending laterally from and supporting eachof said carriers, riding upon and supported by such rail said meansbeing pivotally joined to said carrier, such rail diverging relativelyto such path at an angle predetermined with respect to such stations andto the yielding point of such means, and devices for adjusting the angu-'lar relation between such path and said rail.

7. In a weighing type grading machine of the character described, atraveling conveyor, a carrier pivotally secured thereto and adapted tosupport and carry articles to be graded along a fixed path in suchmachine and a grading rail arranged generally longitudinal of such pathbut diverging slightly therefrom, said carrier comprising a yieldablelateral finger pivotally secured thereto and adapted to engage and to besupported in part by such grading rail.

8. In a weighing type grading machine of the character described, atraveling conveyor, a carrier pivotally secured thereto and adapted tosupport and carry articles to be graded along a fixed path in suchmachine and a grading rail arranged generally longitudinal of such pathbut diver ing slightly therefrom, said carrier comprising a yieldablelateral finger pivotally secured thereto and adapted to engage and to besupported in part by such grading rail, a stop on said carrier Withwhich said finer engages when laterally extended and yielding meanstending to hold such finger in engagement with such stop.

9. In a weighing type grading machine of the character described, atraveling conveyor, a carrier pivotally secured thereto and adapted tosupport and carry articles to be graded along a fixed path in suchmachine and a grading rail arranged generally longitudinal of such pathbut diverging slightly therefrom, said carrier comprising a yieldablelateral finger pivotally secured thereto and adapted to engage and to besupported in part by such grading rail, a stop on said carrier withwhich said finger engages when laterally extended and yielding meanstending to hold such finger in engagement with such stop, and means foradjusting such latter means.

10. In a weighing type grading machine of the character described, atraveling conveyor, a carrier pivotally secured thereto and adapted tosupport and carry articles to be graded along a fixed path in suchmachine and a grading rail arranged generally longitudinal of such pathbut diverging slightly therefronnsaid carrier comprising a yieldablelateral finger pivotally secured thereto and adapted to engage and to besupported in part by such grading rail, a stop on said carrier withwhich said finger engages when laterally extended and yielding meanstending to hold such finger in engagement with such stop, such yieldingmeans being proportioned and arranged to exert a force of progressivelylessened degree as such finger is moved away from such stop.

11. In a weighing type grading machine of the character described, atraveling conveyor, a carrier pivotally secured thereto and adapted tosupport and carry articles to be graded along a fixed path in suchmachine, a grading rail arranged generally longitudinal of such path butdiverging slightly therefrom, and a receiving rail arranged only at thehead end of such grading rail and spaced therefrom, said carriercomprising two spaced lateral fingers one fixed relatively upon suchcarrier and adapted to ride such receiving rail and the other yieldingand pivotally secured thereto and adapted to ride such grading rail.

12. In a weighing type grading machine of the character described, atraveling conveyor, a carrier pivotally secured thereto and adapted tosupport and carry articles to be graded along a fixed path in suchmachine, a grading rail arranged generally longitudinal of such path butdiverging slightly therefrom, and a receiving rail arl ranged only atthe head end of such grading rail and spaced therefrom, said carriercomprising two vertically spaced lateral fingers one fixed relativelyupon such carrier and adapted to ride such receiving rail and the useother yielding and pivotally secured thereto and adapted to ride suchgrading rail.

13. In a weighing type grading machine of the character described, atravelin con veyor, a carrier pivotally secured t ereto and adapted tosupport and carry articles to be graded along a fixed path in suchmachine, a grading rail arrange-d generally longitudinal of such pathbut diverging slight- 1y therefrom, and a receiving rail arranged onlyat the head end of such grading rail and spaced therefrom, said carriercomprising two vertically spaced lateral fingers one fixed relativelyupon such carrier and adapted to ride such receiving rail and the otheryielding and pivotally secured thereto and adapted to ride such gradingrail and a stop on said carrier when laterally extended, and yieldingmeans tending to hold such finger in engagement with such stop.

In testimony whereof he has aflixed his signature.

MICHAEL REDLINGER.

